We have started a Patreon page with the hopes that
some of our followers would be
willing to donate a small amount to keep DVDBeaver
alive. We are a tiny niche, so your
generosity is vital to our
existence.
We are talking about a minimum of
$0.10 - $0.15 a day, perhaps a
quarter (or more) to those who won't
miss it from their budget. It
equates to buying DVDBeaver a coffee
once, twice or a few times a month.
You can then participate in our
monthly
Silent
auctions,
and have exclusive access to many 'bonus' High Resolution screen captures - both
4K UHD
and
Blu-ray
(see
HERE). |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka "Il Giardino del Finzi Contini" or "The Garden of the Finzi Continis")
NOTE: The Arrow, original Italian, title is LEFT (TOP), the Columbia, English credit title, is RIGHT (BOTTOM) - Eric says: "The novella uses "Finzi-Contini" but the author sued the production company to remove the hyphen from the title to distinguish the film from the source because he disapproved of the changes made to the film story." |
The wealthy Jewish-Italian
Finzi Contini family live in a world of their own in their
walled garden and villa in the Italian town of Ferrera.
Home-schooled, terminally-ill Alberto (Helmut Berger,
CONVERSATION PIECE) and his icy sister Micol (Dominique
Sanda,
THE CONFORMIST) rarely leave the estate; rather, they
invite friends in to play on their tennis courts. For their
friends, including Micol's childhood sweetheart Giorgio
(Lino Capolicchio, THE HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS), the
garden of the Finzi Contini also allows them to shut out
anxieties over the encroachment of fascism and Naziism and
what that means for the town's large Jewish population
(Giorgio has already been kicked out of the town's tennis
club and may not be able to receive his degree). Giorgio's
father (Romolo Valli,
THE LEOPARD) is a fascist supporter
and continues to defend the stripping away of Jewish rights
with the excuse "at least we can still live" (even though
his children are no longer allowed to attend state schools,
Jewish citizens will no longer be listed in phone books, and
cannot keep Aryan staff). When Giorgio is kicked out of the
local library, Micol's father (Camillo Cesarei) allows him
the use of his own impressive collection to work on his
literature thesis, but Micol seems to have outgrown their
childhood crush. At the same time, she seems uninterested in
anyone else - although she seems to have a pretty unhealthy
relationship with her brother - and only seduces Alberto's
socialist friend Malnate (Fabio Testi,
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE?) to hurt Giorgio (and Alberto, since Visconti
himself read an unrequited homoerotic attraction to Malnate
into muse Berger's character). When Mussolini announces that
Italy is going to war and the fascists start rounding up
Jews, Giorgio has more to worry about than spurned love and
the Finzi Contini may no longer be able to ignore the
outside world. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: 16 December 1971 (USA)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL LEFT vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC RIGHT
DVD Box Cover |
|
|
Distribution |
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy Region 0 - PAL |
Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 - NTSC |
Runtime | 1:30:06 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:34:24 |
Video |
1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
||
Bitrate PAL |
|
|
Bitrate NTSC |
|
|
Audio | Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono | Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
Subtitles | English, none | English, none |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow Films/Arrow Academy Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 12 |
Release Information: Studio: Columbia Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Keep Case Chapters 28 |
Comments |
Arrow Academy's edition of GARDEN OF THE FINZI CONTINI has been transferred from a brand new master of the film that is generally attractive. Edge enhancement is minor, but the 10 year old, single-layered, Region 1 transfer looks poor in comparison to the brighter and more colorful new PAL image. The NTSC is visually very dark and greenish/blue with less detail. The Arrow audio has been cleaned up, but it is not hiss-free (and there is one particularly harsh passage in the music score during the opening credits). The newly translated English subtitles on the PAL discs are error-free (although they spell the dog's name "Jor" even though the liner notes booklet's excerpt from the novel spells it "Yor"). *** The out-of-print Columbia only has some text bio screens as extras but the Arrow Academy has subtitled three interviews featured on the Italian-only 2003 DVD from Medusa. The director's son, composer Manuel De Sica (who also scored the film) interviews actor Lino Capolicchio and screenwriter Ugo Pirra, and addresses the camera directly in his own interview segment. The film's trailer (with awful sound quality) has also been subtitled. The 23-page liner notes booklet (text alignment issues aside) is quite an informative read with discussion of the differences between the novella and the film and a frank analysis of its shortcomings, as well as some comments by Manuel De Sica and Ugo Pirro, and a reprinted interview with Vittorio de Sica. |
DVD Menus
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL LEFT vs. Columbia -
Region 1 - NTSC
|
|
|
|
Screen Captures
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL TOP vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
|
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL TOP vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
|
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL TOP vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
|
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL TOP vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
|
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL TOP vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
|
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL TOP vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
|
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy - Region 0 - PAL TOP vs. Columbia - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
|
DVD Box Cover |
|
|
Distribution |
Arrow Films/Arrow Academy Region 0 - PAL |
Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 - NTSC |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |